The Russian Soviet Government
Bureau was an agency of the Soviet government, established in
the United States to serve as a procurement agency and clearing
house for news and press releases from the Russian Republic.
The bureau was headed by Ludwig C.A.K. Martens, who entered the
United States a German subject before being named Soviet representative
in America early in 1919.

On June 12, 1919, the
"New York Joint Legislative Committee Investigating Seditious
Activities," chaired by Sen. Clayton R. Lusk -- known to
history as the "Lusk Committee" -- obtained a search
warrant directed against the Manhattan office of the Russian
Soviet Government Bureau, located at 110 W 40th Street. The raid
was conducted that same day by the Committee in association with
the New York state constabulary, and a large number of documents
were removed from the building to the headquarters of the Lusk
Committee,

In the course of its public
hearings in the fall of 1919, the Lusk Committee subpoenaed Ludwig
Martens to testify before it. Martens, under claim of diplomatic
immunity, refused to heed the subpoena and was arrested and taken
to New York City Hall on Nov. 14, 1919, where he was released
upon posting of $1,000 bond. He subsequently appeared before
the Committee, testifying that he had received some $90,000 from
Soviet Russia to fund the operations of the Russian Soviet Government
Bureau, but declining to name names as to the identity of those
who provided this money. Martens was cited for contempt by the
Chairman of the Committee but left the jurisdiction before this
proceeding against him was completed. Martens' secretary, Santeri
Nuorteva, was similarly called before the Committee and declined
to answer, was likewise cited for contempt and left the jurisdiction.
Michael Mislig, an associate of Martens and Nuorteva and Secretary
of the Russian Federation was similarly called before the Lusk
Committee and cited for contempt for refusing to answer its questions.
He, too, fled the jurisdiction of the Committee.

(fn. Stevenson
(ed.), Lusk Committee Report, v. 1, pp. 27-28.)

Official
Organ

The first publication
of the Russian Soviet Government Bureau was a weekly information
bulletin, first published on March 3, 1919. A total of 13 issues
were produced, with the final issue appearing on May 26. This
weekly bulletin seems to have been intended as a sort of regular
press release for the use of recipient periodicals.

The Russian Soviet Government
Bureau came to the view that an expanded magazine targeted to
a broader readership was called for, and on June 7, 1919, a 16-page
magazine called Soviet
Russia: A Weekly Devoted to Spread the Truth About Russiawas launched. According to its editor, Soviet
Russia was intended "to acquaint the People of the United
States with the real conditions in Russia and to combat the campaign
of deliberate misrepresentation which is being waged by enemies
of the Russian workers..." The magazine was intended to
be the voice of the Soviet government abroad rather than a tool
of the domestic American communist movement. "There is nothing
secret, sinister, or opprobrious about this publication,"
the editor asserted. On the contrary, it was contended that a
handful of publications "more or less secretly financed
by Russian counter-revolutionists" were the ones responsible
for the real "sinister and insidious propaganda" --
an effort to "seduce and bully the people of America to
spend their money and their lives in the reestablishment in Russia
of that rule of the few."

Officials
and Employees

GENERAL
OFFICE STAFF

The "Commercial Representative"
of the Russian Soviet Government Bureau was LUDWIG C.A.K.
MARTENS. (1919 photo from NY Call) -- see also photo
below R). Martens was born in Bachmut in Ekaterinoslav
Province, Russia, on Dec. 20, 1874. He was a graduate of the
Petrograd Technological Institute, a mechanical engineer by training.
He originally came to the United States as the agent of the Demidoff
Count San Donato Co. of Perm, Russia. He was also the Vice President
of Weinberg and Posner Engineering Co. of New York.

GREGORY WEINSTEIN was the Secretary to Martens
and General Office Manager of the Russian Soviet Government Bureau.
He was born in Russia in 1880 and was a graduate of the University
of Geneva, Switzerland. A journalist by trade, Weinstein held
a Master of Science degree and a degree in law. Weinstein went
to work at the RSGB on April 7, 1919. Weinstein was also listed
as one of three editors of the final issue of The Class Struggle,
which was published as the theoretical magazine of the new Communist
Labor Party.

SANTERI "SANTTU"
NUORTEVA (née
Alexander Nyberg, above L) was the Secretary of the Bureau.
Nuorteva was born in Viborg, Finland, in 1881 and attended the
University of Helsingfors. During the period 1907-11 he was a
member of the Finnish parliament. In the United States he was
an active member of the Finnish Socialist Federation and edited
several of its newspapers. He was named representative of the
Finnish Revolutionary government early in 1918 and established
the Finnish Government Bureau in New York in March of that year.
After the defeat of the Finnish Revolution in May 1918, he became
one of the leading exponents of the Bolshevik Revolution in America.
He was appointed to the Russian Soviet Government Bureau on March
18, 1919.

KENNETH DURANT was the Assistant Secretary of
the Bureau. Durant was an American, born in Philadelphia in 1889
and was a graduate of Harvard University. During the war he was
an employee of George Creel's Committee on Public Information,
working as the assistant director of the news division in Washington,
DC, and later with the foreign press and cable division in New
York, Paris, and Rome. Durant went to work at the Russian Soviet
Government Bureau on June 16, 1919.

MARY MODELL was a translator and secretary
at the Russian Soviet Government Bureau. She was a Russian, born
in 1896, and was a graduate of the First Kursk Gymnasium for
Girls. She came to work for the RSGB on April 7, 1919.

DOROTHY KEEN was the private secretary to
Santeri Nuorteva. She was an American, born in Boston in 1898,
and a graduate of high school in New York City.

ALEXANDER COLEMAN was a file clerk. He was an American,
born in Fitchburg, MA, in 1899. He attended high school in Fitchburg
and New York City before coming to work at the Russian Soviet
Government Bureau on April 7, 1919.

BLANCH ABUSHEVITZ was a telephone clerk at the
Russian Soviet Government Bureau. She was born in Vilna, Lithuania,
and was a graduate of the Vilna Gymnasium. She also passed the
New York Board of Regents High School examination. She went to
work at the RSGB on April 15, 1919.

NESTOR KUNTZEVICH was an office attendant. He was
a Russian, born in Volyn, Russia, in 1889. He went to work at
the RSGB on January 4, 1919.

LT. COL. BORIS LEONIDOVICH
TAGUEEF ROUSTAM BEK
was employed at the Russian Soviet Government Bureau as a "military
expert." Bek was a Russian, born in Petrograd in 1871. He
was an 1891 graduate of the Petrograd Naval School and served
with the 6th Orenburg Cossacks during the Pamir Military Expedition,
1891-95. During the Grecko-Turkish War of 1897 he served as a
military correspondent at Turkish headquarters. Bek was the chief
editor of the Russian Army and Navy Almanac from 1898-1900. During
the Russo-Japanese war he was at Port Arthur and in Manchuria
with Generals Kuropatkin and Stoessel. In 1914 he was appointed
Lt. Col. in the British Volunteer Army and later was a military
specialist writing on the staff of the London Daily Express.
He came to work at the Russian Soviet Government Bureau on Jan.
1, 1920.

COMMERCIAL DEPARTMENT

A.A. HELLER was the Director of the Commercial
Department. Heller was a naturalized American, born in Russia
in 1879. He graduated from the Commercial College of the City
of Moscow and later studied at Harvard University. His family
was in the jewelry business and he worked in Paris and New York
City. Heller's formal job title was that of General Manager of
the International Oxygen Co. of New Jersey. He came to work at
the Russian Soviet Government Bureau on April 7, 1919.

ELLA TUCH was the secretary of the commercial
department. She was a naturalized American, born in Riga, Latvia
(Russian empire) and worked previously in a patent law office
and as manager of a corporate stenographic office. She went to
work at the Russian Soviet Government Bureau on April 7, 1920.

ROSE HOLLAND was a clerk and stenographer
for the commercial department. She was an American, born in New
York City and attended New York University for one year before
working as office manager for the Gary School League. She came
to work at the RSGB on May 12, 1919.

HENRIETTA MEEROWICH was a clerk for the commercial
department. She was a Russian, born in Libau, Courland (Russian
empire) and a graduate of the Libau Girls Gymnasium. From 1911-19
she worked as a social worker before coming to work at the Russian
Soviet Government Bureau on April 15, 1919.

ROSE BYERS was a stenographer and clerk
for the commercial department. She was a Russian citizen, born
in Kiev, Ukraine (Russian empire), and was a graduate of Kiev
Gymnasium. She came to work at the RSGB on July 30, 1919.

VLADIMIR OLCHOVSKY was a statistician and draftsman
working for the commercial department. He was a Russian citizen
who had attended the Cadets' School at Nizhni Novgorod before
going on to the Military Engineering School at Petrograd and
the Gatchina Aero-Nav. School at Gatchina. During the war he
was a superintendent of airplane construction plants at Briansk
and Kiev and held the rank of Captain in the Russian Army. He
came to work at the RSGB on April 15, 1919.

TECHNICAL DEPARTMENT

ARTHUR ADAMS was the Director of the Technical
Department. Adams was a British citizen, a graduate of the Kronstadt
School of Science and held a M.E. degree from the University
of Toronto in Canada. Adams came to work at the Russian Soviet
Government Bureau on June 22, 1919.

EDUCATIONAL DEPARTMENT

WILLIAM MALISSOFF was the Director of the Educational
Department.Malissof was a naturalized American who was born in
Ekaterinoslav, Russia. He held B.S., M.A., and Ph.D. degrees
from Colombia University and had been a teacher of chemistry
and researcher in that field at Columbia. He came to work at
the Russian Soviet Government Bureau on Nov. 1, 1919.

MEDICAL DEPARTMENT

LEO A. HEUBSCH was the Director of the Medical
Department. Heubsch was a Russian citizen, born in Vinniza, Russia.
He was a graduate of the University of Odessa and earned his
M.D. in 1907 at the University of Yuriev in Russia. In 1915 he
was licensed to practice medicine and surgery in New York State.
He came to work at the RSGB on April 24, 1919.

D.H. DUBROWSKY was born in Kiev, Ukraine (Russian
empire) in 1888. He received his M.D. from Fordam College and
worked as a statistician for the Russian Ministry of Ways and
Communications from June 1918 to April 1919. He came to work
at the RSGB on April 16, 1919.

LEGAL DEPARTMENT

MORRIS HILLQUIT, well known Socialist Party leader
born in Riga, Latvia (Russian empire) was officially on the staff
of the Legal Department but was unable to participate for reasons
of health. His appointment to the Russian Soviet Government Bureau
came on March 18, 1919.

ISAAC A. HOURWICH served as Acting Director of
the Legal Department, as well as Director of the Department on
Labor and Statistics. Hourwich, the father of future Communist
Party founder Nicholas I. Hourwich, was a naturalized American,
born in Russia. He studied at the University of St. Petersburg
and earned a L.L.M. degree from Demidoff Lyceum of Jurisprudence,
Yaroslavl, Russia, in 1877. Hourwich was admitted to the Russian
bar in 1887, in Illinois in 1893, and in New York in 1896. From
1891-92 he was a fellow at Columbia University and earned a Ph.D.
there in 1893. He was a member of the editorial staff for the
comparative law bureau of the American Bar Association, and worked
as a translator at the US Mint from 1900-02. During 1902-06.
Hourwich worked as an expert special agent for the US Bureau
of the Census. He was a statistician for the NY Public Service
Commission, 1908-09, and worked as an expert special agent in
charge of mining at the Bureau of the Census, 1909-13. He was
appointed at the Russian Soviet Government Bureau on April 16,
1919.

DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMICS
AND STATISTICS

ISAAC A. HOURWICH was the Director.

EVA JOFFE was a statistician. She was a
naturalized American citizen, born in Bachmut, Russia. She had
attended graduate school at Columbia University and the New York
School of Social Research, and worked as a special agent for
the Bureau of the Census in 1910. During 1911-12 she was a statistician
for the New York Factory Investigating Committee, and worked
in 1913-14 as chief of staff of the wage scale board for the
dress and waist industry. From 1915-18 she was a statistician
for the National Child Labor Commission, before coming to work
at the RSGB on April 16, 1919.

ELIZABETH GOLDSTEIN was a stenographer for the Department
of Economics and Statistics. She was a naturalized American who
had been born in Russia and graduated high school and business
college in Boston, MA.

EDITORIAL STAFF
OF SOVIET RUSSIA

JACOB W. HARTMANN was the Managing Editor of Soviet
Russia. Hartmann was an American, born in Brooklyn, NY, in
1881. He earned a B.S. degree from City College of New York in
1901, and a Ph.D. from Columbia University in 1912. From 1901-19
he worked as an instructor in language and history at the College
of the City of New York, before going to work at the Russian
Soviet Government Bureau on April 7, 1919.

RAY TROTSKY was a stenographer and translator
for Soviet Russia. She was a Russian citizen, born in
Suvalki, Russia, and a graduate of Suvalki Gymnasium. She came
to work at the RSGB on April 28, 1919.

THEODORE BRESLAUER was a translator for Soviet
Russia. He was a Russian citizen, born in Lodz, Poland (Russian
Empire) in 1886. He earned a Doctor of Law degree from the University
of Heidelberg, Germany, in 1910, and went to work at the RSGB
on April 7, 1919.

VASILY IVANOFF was a mailing clerk for Soviet
Russia. He was a Russian citizen, born in Russia in 1898,
and had attended the Graduate School of Navigation, Arkhangelsk,
Russia. He came to work at the RSGB on Dec. 8, 1919.

DAVID OLDFIELD was a clerk at Soviet Russia.
He was a Russian, born there in 1885, and was educated in Petrograd
and Paris before coming to work at the RSGB on Aug. 20, 1919.

I. BLANKSTEIN was a translator for Soviet
Russia. He was a Russian citizen, born in Russia in 1896,
and came to work at the RSGB on June 1, 1919.

MARCH 1919

"Consul
of Russian Republic Here to Open Trade with US; Authorized to Spend
$200,000,000: His Official Statement of Conditions Lays Ghost of Lies
and Slanders of Violence About Soviet Rule and Its Aims..." (NY Call) [March 21, 1919] Initial
report in the Socialist Party's New York Call announcing the formation
of the Russian Soviet Government Bureau, headed by Ludwig C.A.K.
Martens. Announcement of Marten's appointment as the official
representative of the Soviet government to the United States was made
March 20, 1919, according to the article, with Martens having been
informed of the decision by cable "about three months ago" (i.e. at the
end of December 1918). Martens attempts to whet the interest of the
American capitalist class with a promise of an initial $200 million in
purchases, paid up front in gold. Stating that previously Germany had
been far and away the largest trading partner of the old Russian
regime, in the light of Germany's own economic problems "in a trade
sense, as well as in a political sense, Russia is starting anew." On
behalf of the Soviet government, Martens seeks a negotiated end to the
intervention and blockade of Russia. He declares Soviet Russia to have
been the subject of "false and often absurdly silly reports about the
nature of the institutions and measures" taken against its opponents,
while acknowledging the Soviet government having had to "adopt stern
measures against people who continuously and openly plot for a
re-enslavement of the Russian workers and who resort to methods of
violence in their fight." The article indicates that Martens had
forwarded his credentials to the State Department in Washington, DC for
decision.

"Letter to S.J. Rutgers in
Moscow from unknown New York correspondent 'F.' with note from
Ludwig Martens in New York, March 21 & 24, 1919."This is a fascinating handwritten
archival document rescued from illegibility, written by an adherent
of the Left Wing Section with a name initial "F." (not
Fraina) to Seybold Rutgers, in Moscow for the founding of the
Communist International. "F." notes that the Socialist
Propaganda League had been terminated, replaced by an organized
Left Wing Section, which would be transmitting credentials to
Rutgers to serve as its delegate to the founding convention.
"F." notes that he had asked the "International
Relations Committee of the Left Wing Section" for a brief
outline history, which is included here in full. This history
notes that the Manifesto of the Left Wing had its roots in a
February 15, 1919, convention in New York City. A postscript
is added by Ludwig Martens noting "Since my appointment
with all my heart and soul I am in the work. Doubtless we shall
have results very soon." Martens adds that "We need
all information in regard to your needs in machinery, supplies,
etc. I think we will have the best chances in the world to create
here a great organization which will be of greatest use for economical
development of Russia."

JUNE 1919

"Stevenson's 'Personally
Conducted' Raid: An Editorial in the New York Call, June
15, 1919."This
editorial from the New York City Socialist Party daily declares
that "responsibility for the raid on the Soviet Bureau rests
squarely on the shoulders of just one man" -- Archibald
Stevenson. "He headed the band of private detectives and
state constabulary that invaded the Soviet office. They all took
orders from him directly. Every detail of the raid was under
his specific direction," the editorialist asserts. Stevenson
is revealed as a zealous member of the Union League Club in New
York, which had moved that group to action pushing for a broad
investigation of radicalism in the state. Stevenson had been
appointed chairman of a special committee of that club established
for that purpose and had parlayed this position into fame through
testimony before the Overman Committee of the United States Senate
and a decisive place in the Lusk Committee established by the
New York legislature to investigate radicalism in the state.
Stevenson had gained a measure of infamy (and a rebuke from Secretary
of War Newton Baker) by reading into the testimony a list of
60 names of individuals which he, in his own judgment, proclaimed
to be "pro-German," "even though he knew this
act would damage them, no matter how false the allegation."
The editorialist declares that "What is needed today is
not so much a public investigation of the Soviet Bureau -- it
has never shunned legitimate investigation -- but a thoroughgoing
probe of Archibald E. Stevenson and his underground activities."

"Frameup of Radicals Laid
to Lusk Probers by Resigning Aide: Official Translator Quits
Post, Asserting Committee Does Not Seek Truth But Tries to Influence
and Arouse Public Opinion -- British Secret Service Chief Examined
Papers, Is Charge." [June 22, 1919] This article will be of interest to specialists
in espionage and counter-intelligence -- a news report from the
Socialist Party's New York Call reprinting the press release
of Feliciu Vexler, a Romanian-born linguist who abruptly resigned
his post as a translator for Lusk Committee over what he characterized
the "methods of the former Tsars of Russia" being pursued
by the committee in their self-proclaimed attempt to "bust
up the whole Socialist and radical gang." Vexler charges
that British intelligence was working hand in glove with Archibald
Stevenson, the driving force of the raid on the Russian Soviet
Government Bureau. According to the news report, members of the
raiding crew told Vexler frankly that "their purpose in
making the raids was not to find the truth, but to 'frame up'
a case against all radical groups in New York through the public
press, and to show as plausibly as possible that a coordinated
movement for the 'overthrow of the government' of the United
States exists." Includes Vexler's complete press release
and an account of a brief interview conducted with Vexler personally,
during which Vexler stated "it appeared to me to be an attempt
to 'frame up' certain persons for public obloquy.... Stevenson
told me it was his purpose to link together all the various radical
movements in an attempt to show that a widespread conspiracy
existed by which it was intended to overthrow the government."

"British Provost Marshal
Aided Lusk Probers with Documents: Nathan, Who Took Leading Part
in Raid, Just a 'Junior' Officer: Head of Organization Says He
Furnished Record of Martens but Didn't 'Butt In.'" [June
25, 1919] This
article from the New York Call follows up on linguist
Feliciu Vexler's charge that British intelligence was working
with Archibald Stevenson and the Lusk Committee in their raid
on the Russian Soviet Government Bureau and their attempt to
link various liberal and radical persons and institutions in
a grand conspiracy plot. The Call reporter went to the
office of the British consulate attempting to find a certain
"Nathan" on the staff, purported to be the head of
British intelligence in America. The reporter ironically interviewed
Norman Thwaites, who was ironically William Wiseman's chief intelligence
officer in the US. Despite two other employees playing dumb to
the reporter, Thwaites obligingly acknowledged that there was
a "junior" of unspecified duties on his staff by the
name of Nathan -- actually his top assistant specializing in
gathering data on nationalist and radical movements and individuals,
Robert Nathan. Thwaites told the reporter he "wasn't sure
of Nathan's initials, but thought they were J.R." -- and
stated that Nathan had "taken some records concerning L.C.A.K.
Martens to the raiders" following the seizure of documents
from the RSGB. Thwaites is quoted as saying "this office
had nothing whatever to do with the Lusk Committee" and
that "this office would not think of butting into such an
affair as this. Even if we had been invited to participate --
though, since this is not our business, I don't see why we should
have been -- I should have absolutely refused to take part."

JULY 1919

"The Soviet Republic,"
by Santeri Nuorteva [July 1919] This eloquent defense of the Bolshevik revolution
by the Secretary of the Russian Soviet Government Bureau was
published in the pages of an American academic journal. Nuorteva
states that all the Soviet government wants is an end to military
intervention and trade relations. An organized blockade had disrupted
not only supplies into the country, but information from the
country as well, he states, quoting an unnamed Western press
correspondent who told Nuorteva that 95 percent of his telegraph
dispatches from Soviet Russia had been intentionally delayed
or stopped, particularly those mentioning in any way positive
aspects of Soviet construction. The Russian revolution was not
a simple matter of personalities taking specific actions, Nuorteva
states, but rather a massive sociological upheaval based upon
the land question and the peasant nature of the Russian army.
He declares that "the peasants just took the land. Whether
you approve of it or not, it doesn't matter because you can't
change it any more than you can change the course of the sun
or the moon." Only the Bolsheviks were willing to accept
this reality at face value and to conduct a set of sweeping economic
changes which were a logical consequence of the collapse of the
land ownership and banking system. Russia was not any more chaotic
than the rest of Central and Eastern Europe, Nuorteva states
-- indeed, rather stable compared to other nations. Further,
it was hypocritical of the press to obsess upon the 3,000 or
so killed in the Russian Red Terror when 15,000 had been executed
and 10,000 systematically starved to death during the same period
by the conservatives in Finland and while the anti-Bolshevik
White Army of Kolchak took no prisoners and systematically murdered
government officials in villages falling under its control. Victory
by Kolchak would mean an exponentially more vicious bloodbath
than the rather limited violence practiced by the Bolsheviks,
Nuorteva indicates.

AUGUST 1919

"The Martens Affair: Report
of CEC Representative Gurin to the 5th Regular Convention of
the Federation of Russian Branches, Communist Party of America:
Detroit, MI -- Aug. 22, 1919."The published historiographical literature indicates
there was bad blood between the Russian Socialist Federation
headed by Translator-Secretary Alexander Stoklitsky and Secretary
Oscar Tyverovsky and the Soviet Russian Government Bureau in
New York headed by Ludwig Martens. Little background has been
provided, a crude grasp to expropriate Soviet funds has been
intimated. This report by Russian Federation CEC member Gurin
to the 5th Convention of the RF presents the full tale of the
battle between the Russian Federation and the Martens Bureau
for the first time. Rather than a grab for cash, the antagonism
between Martens and the RF is depicted as the by-product of a
struggle to submit the one-man managed RSGB to workers' control,
the members of the RF seen as expatriate but fully vested
members of the Russian working class abroad. Free of any external
supervision and inspection, Martens had made a series of "errors,"
Gurin states. Particularly galling was the fact that for every
staff position at the RSGB, "Martens has appointed either
a Right Wing Socialist or an impartial person. You will find
there an anti-Bolshevist Nuorteva, Lomonosov, and Mensheviki
-- old man [Isaac] Hourwich [father of Novyi Mir editor
Nicholas, incidentally], who sheds tears at the thought of the
dispersal of the Constituent Assembly, and the well known [Morris]
Hillquit." Gurin continues by noting "We are not against
the inviting of bourgeois experts to these jobs. But at the very
moment when any blind man could see that any day there might
be a break in the Socialist Party, filling vacancies in the local
Soviet mission by Right Wing Socialists would mean that the sympathy
of the Soviet Bureau was with the Right Wing Socialists in their
struggle with the Left. Just think! The representatives of Revolutionary
Socialism in the US supports the Right Socialists in their struggle
with the Revolutionary Socialists!" After a stream of orators
spoke on the question, almost universally expressing condemnation
of Martens for failing to submit to workers' control of the activities
of his bureau, Martens had been given the last word in the debate,
not subject to ordinary time limit. "Comrade Martens in
his reply continued to state that he could not fulfill the demands
of control over his activity... His opinion was that he as a
representative of Soviet Russia had a right to present any demands
to the Federation and the Federation must execute them."
Martens asked the RF to renounce its demands for supervisory
control over the activities of the RSGB. In the reply to debate,
reporting CEC member Gurin unleashed a withering barrage at Martens:
Martens had thrown representatives of the RF out of his office,
had threatened to have his opponents blacklisted in Soviet Russia,
had broken his promises, and had refused to submit to the reasonable
authority of the Russian revolutionary socialist movement in
America. A resolution was moved declaring that "all the
activities of Comrade Martens as a local representative of the
Russian worker-peasant government, as well as the activity of
the Bureau and its clerks, must be under the complete control
of the local Bolshevik (Communist) organizations." This
resolution was approved in a massive landslide by the RF, 127
in favor, 8 opposed, and 15 abstaining.

NOVEMBER 1919

"Speech in Celebration of
the 2nd Anniversary of Soviet Russia: Park View Place, New York
City," by Santeri Nuorteva [Nov. 7, 1919] November 7, 1919, marked the 2nd
Anniversary of the Russian Revolution, an event celebrated by
mass meetings all over the city of New York and in other American
urban centers. One of these gatherings was addressed by Santeri
Nuorteva, secretary to Ludwig Martens of the Russian Soviet Government
Bureau in New York -- the de facto embassy of Soviet Russia to
the United States. A verbatim transcript of this meeting, including
Nuorteva's full speech to the gathering, was taken down by a
Department of Justice stenographer. Nuorteva indicates an altogether
different mood on the 2nd anniversary as compared to the first:
"A year ago it required a special enthusiasm, it required
a great deal of faith, it required a great deal of conviction
to believe and to know that the Russian Soviet Republic was not
to go down, that it was to remain in power. Now today we do not
need to doubt." Nuorteva indicates that while the blockade
was a serious obstacle to the future success of the revolution,
the most serious dilemma was the standing need of the Soviet
Republic to devote 75% or more of its productive forces to military
purposes. To the advantage of Soviet Russia were the contradictions
within the imperialist camp, Nuorteva notes, with some Western
powers seeking division of the Russian empire into its national
constituencies while others sought to back White Russian forces
intent upon the maintenance of the multi-national Russian empire.
Soviet Russia wanted only one thing, Nuorteva declares: "We
want to be left in peace, so that we may concentrate our forces
on that work of construction and reconstruction which is before
us there. We want to do that, and we are sure that if left alone,
if not pestered by all these little dogs that are trying to bite
us in the legs, around us, we will be able to show the world
that the Russian Workers' Revolution is not a crazy thing, it
is not a freak, it is not an invention of 1 or 2 or 3 men, that
it really inaugurates an era of a new social order and we want
to work it out and it is that very thing which the capitalist
class is afraid of."

"Letter to Emma Goldman at
Ellis Island from Ludwig C.A.K. Martens in New York, December
15, 1919."The
head of the Russian Soviet Government Bureau published this open
letter to Emma Goldman in the pages of his organization's official
organ, Soviet Russia, in an effort to repudiate the "malicious
hysteria" that resulted in publication of an "alleged
interview with me" in the New York press on the previous
day. Martens reassuring Goldman that she and other political
exiles from America would be welcomed in Soviet Russia. Of particular
interest is Martens' reference to an offer made on behalf of
the Soviet government to the US government to provide "free
transportation to my country of all Russians in America who want
to return there, or whose presence in the United States is not
desired by the authorities here."

JANUARY 1920

"Nuorteva Says Spies Helped
to Frame Program of Communists." [Jan. 7, 1920] This short news brief from the
front page of the Milwaukee Leader announces that (1)
the Department of Justice had issued a warrant for the arrest
for deportation of Ludwig C.A.K. Martens, head of the Russian
Soviet Government Bureau in New York; (2) Santeri Nuorteva, secretary
to Martens, announced agents of the Department of Justice had
actively participated in the formulation of Communist Party platform
planks, "which now form the basis of the persecution of
thousands of people." Nuorteva also asserted that "we
can prove that the chief figures in such celebrated bomb plots
were agents of a similar nature" and that the Russian Soviet
Government Bureau "would welcome an opportunity to make
good these assertions before the proposed Senate investigating
committee." Nuorteva also promised to prove the squandering
of funds loaned by the American government to the pre-Bolshevik
government of Russia "on abominable plots and intrigues."

"Let the Facts Come Out.
An Editorial from the Milwaukee Leader, Jan. 8, 1920."This Milwaukee
Leader editorial, probably written by John Work, supports
the general theory advanced by Santeri Nuorteva on Jan. 7, 1920,
that agents of the Department of Justice had participated in
the fabrication of Communist Party planks which were then applied
against radicals across America during the Palmer Raids. The
editorialist urges a hearing for Nuorteva and Martens and notes
the Leader "knows the wiles of capitalists and old
party officials too well not to have suspected these very activities
that are now charged by Nuorteva. In fact, we expressed our suspicion
that the bomb plots were concocted for the purpose of creating
an excuse to prosecute radicals -- also that there were spies
helping to promote the plan to wreck the Socialist Party last
spring and summer. We did not have tangible evidence that any
particular Left Winger was a spy. But, the suddenness with which
the fight was sprung and the terrific campaign of lies that was
waged against the Socialist Party indicated that there was a
malevolent desire to ruin the usefulness of the party altogether..."
There is a definite similarity in the world view of the veteran
of the Socialist Party, Nuorteva, and the veteran of the Socialist
Party who wrote the editorial -- that American Ultra-Leftism
was in measure a machination of the Justice Department intended
to destroy American radicalism.

"Government Spies Wrote Planks
in Communist Platform, also Laid Bombs, is Charge: Washington
Stirred to Depths by Sensational Accusations Against Government
Spies -- Russian Republic Representative Demands Full Hearing
Before Senate." [Jan. 14, 1920] Article from the pages of the CLP's legal organ,
The Toiler, detailing the charges made by Santeri Nuorteva of
the Russian Soviet Government Bureau that "We have conclusive
evidence that agents of the Department of Justice have actively
participated in the organization of the Communist Party of America,
and that those very planks in the program of the party which
now form the basis of the persecution of thousands of people
have been drafted and inserted into that platform by such government
agents." No commentary on this matter is offered from a
Communist Labor Party perspective; instead, an unnamed US Senator
is quoted as saying, "If America has emerged from the world
war a nest of spies and official plotters against exploited classes
at home and against new experiments in government abroad, the
American people ought to be informed of it immediately."
Nuorteva's full statement to the press of Jan. 6, 1920, is appended
to the news article.

SEPTEMBER 1920

"Resolution of the Executive
Committee of the Communist International on the Case of Louis
C. Fraina, Sept. 30, 1920."Full
text of a leaflet published in 1920 by the Communist Party of
America detailing the absolution of Louis Fraina from charges
preferred by Santeri Nuorteva of the Russian Soviet Government
Bureau in New York that he was a secret police agent. Two hearings
were actually conducted, the first by an investigating committee
of three (including CLP member Alexander Bilan) which cleared
Fraina of the charge; the second a trial reopening the case at
Fraina's request when Nuorteva showed up in Moscow in August
1920. Fraina was again found not guilty of Nuorteva's allegation
and Nuorteva was instructed to cease making accusations against
Fraina or else "THE GRAVEST MEASURES" would be used
"TO STOP HIM." A further resolution was made by ECCI
on September 29, 1920, insisting that Nuorteva retract publicly,
in the press, all charges made against Fraina.

JANUARY 1921

"Circular Letter on the Closing
of the Chicago Office of the Soviet Russia Medical Relief Committee
from Charles L. Drake." [Jan. 15, 1921] The Soviet Russia Medical Relief
Committee was the medical relief arm of the Communist-directed
Friends of Soviet Russia organization. The group worked hand
in glove with the Russian Soviet Government Bureau headed by
Ludwig Martens, which served as the official purchasing agent
for the fundraising organization. Undercover investigation by
the Department of Justice's Bureau of Investigation assured that
authorities were well apprised of bitter criticism in the radical
community of the ethics and accounting practices of Soviet Russia
Medical Relief, charges levied with particular vehemence by the
Anarchist-dominated Russian radical movement of the Detroit area.
While the BoI believed that the "American Red Star League"
organization which emerged in early 1921 was a parallel organization
initiated as in response to the improprieties of the Soviet Russian
Medical Relief Committee headed by A.M. Rovin and Boris Roustam-Bek,
this document reveals an altogether different origin. Rather
than an insurgent parallel organization motivated by accountability
and fiscal reform, the Red Star League had its roots in the sudden
decision of the New York main office to terminate its Chicago,
headed by attorney Charles L. Drake. With the deportation of
Martens and the shuttering of the Soviet Bureau clearing in the
offing, the Soviet Medical Relief organization saw itself as
left with no means of transporting its sanitary and medical supplies
to Soviet Russia. The determination to shutter the Western Office
was abrupt -- two days before Christmas a letter was sent by
Secretary Joseph Michael to Drake in Chicago (reprinted here)
instructing him to immediately terminate all engagements and
close the office. Drake obtained an extension of this deadline
to Friday, Jan. 15, 1921, which was the final day of operation
of the Western Office of the Soviet Russia Medical Relief Committee.
The American Red Star League seems to have been launched immediately
thereafter, using the same physical office space being abandoned
and with Drake taking on the role of Secretary and guiding figure
of the new medical relief fundraising organization.

FEBRUARY 1921

"The American Red Star League:
First Aid to the Working Class." [circa Feb. 1, 1921] "The ghastly failure of the
present organized relief forces to be of any real service to
the working class and their official refusal in many cases to
help the workers where help is most needed has made necessary
the organization of a relief force that will be of, by, and for
the working class, and for the working class alone," declares
this leaflet of the newly-organized American Red Star League.
This group is said to be "organized solely for the purpose
of giving relief to members of the working class in acute need,
everywhere in the world." While aid to the working class
in war ravaged Europe was clearly a priority, the leaflet notes
that "such need is not confined to foreign countries. The
anti-labor drive which has been begun by the moneyed powers in
this country, headed by the United States Steel Corporation and
assisted by every Chamber of Commerce, will lead to terrible
conflicts and nationwide destitution." The leaflet exhorts
recipients to give financial donations to a $10 million Relief
Fund: "The workers must be prepared now to aid their own
distressed comrades. The want in Europe and Asia is terrible,
appalling, and the official relief agencies use the contributions
of Americans against the workers who are seeking to control their
own governments. We must help them!"

"Soviet Envoy Martens' Farewell
Message to America," by Ludwig C.A.K. Martens [Feb. 5, 1921]
At the time of
his expulsion the de facto Ambassador of Soviet Russia to the
United States, Ludwig Martens, takes time to thank the Americans
who showed him such "great personal kindness and courtesy."
Martens indicates that his departure was "the logical and
inevitable consequence of the policy of the American government
toward Soviet Russia." For the past 2 years, two American
administrations had shown "an absolute refusal to recognize
even the de facto existence of the Soviet government, and a refusal
to permit the resumption of trade between Russia and America."
The US government had adamantly refused to accept any communications
which Martens had addressed to it. Martens notes that the Soviet
government had "accepted this declaration of the policy
of the American government toward Russia and instructed me to
close my bureau and to withdraw from the United States without
delay." Martens concludes without rancor, stating that "industrial
and economic conditions of the world, not excepting America,
are such that the resumption of normal economic relations with
Russia has become an imperative necessity upon all nations"
and that "when the American people are prepared to approach
this problem, the government of the Russian workers and peasants
will be ready to meet them in a reasonable and friendly spirit."

"Ludwig C.A.K. Martens,"
by Arturo Giovannitti [Feb. 18, 1921] Lengthy and politically-charged prose poem in
honor of the deportation of unrecognized Soviet ambassador Ludwig
Christian Alexander Karlovich Martens, written by the noted radical
Italian-American labor activist and poet. In Giovannitti's poem
Revolutionary Russia is likened to Revolutionary America of 145
years earlier -- but the long-awaited visitor from afar, coming
in the name of freedom and liberty has no one to welcome him
appropriately, the original American revolutionaries being long
dead and replaced instead by tax collectors and policemen and
royalty-worshiping bureaucrats and aristocrats. Only the poor
and downtrodden American workers, the "stillborn,"
are in a position to welcome Martens and his mission and to bid
him and that mission an appropriate farewell, "And a clod
from the grave of John Brown to spread over the grave of John
Reed."

"Statement of Ludwig C.A.K.
Martens on the Activities of the Soviet Mission: Moscow -- Feb.
24, 1921."Upon
arriving back in Moscow after being forced to leave the United
States, former Russian emissary Ludwig Martens summarized the
activities of the Russian Soviet Government Bureau which he headed
in the Soviet press. Martens retrospectively categorizes the
activity of the RSGB into three sections: Information, Commercial
work, and Technical work. Martens feels the propagation of information
about Soviet Russia had been successful, as had the development
of technical information and assistance for his country. Commercial
work was a mixed bag, in Martens' estimation, the big failure
to open up trade relations being only partially offset by the
export of $750,000 worth of goods from Soviet Russia and by the
execution of a number of successful purchase orders. Martens
also emphasizes the importance of having made contact with the
3 million member Russian colony in America, the mass of which
were "undoubtedly supporters of Soviet Russia." Martens
concludes that it is his conviction "that our return to
America will take place in the very near future. The program
put forward by the Republicans during the Presidential election
contained a paragraph demanding the resumption of trade relations
with all countries with which America is not in a state of war.
This of course applies to Soviet Russia. I think that as soon
as Harding becomes President of the USA, Soviet Russia will be
given the opportunity of opening the necessary negotiations."

"The American Red Star League
$10,000,000 Relief Fund to Save the Women and Children of Soviet
Russia: A leaflet of the American Red Star League." [leaflet,
circa Feb. 1921] This
leaflet by the new American Red Star League, a left wing rival
medical relief organization to the American Red Cross, presents
much of the case made by Irwin St. John Tucker in a longer pamphlet
published by the Red Star League at about the same time. "Confronted
with the terrific destitution in Europe as a result of wars and
blockades, the working class of America has been asked to give
generously for the relief of suffering in those countries. Millions
of dollars have been raised in America for the relief of Europe.
How much of this money has actually been of service to the working
class? Two MILLION dollars' worth of medical supplies desperately
needed in Russia were burned by the American Red Cross in the
Crimea to prevent it falling into the hands of the Workers' Government.
Supplies to the value of 10 MILLION dollars were allowed to rot
at Archangel because the Red Cross would not permit the starving
and dying Russians to use them." Capitalist machinations
in Russia, Hungary, Austria, Italy, and elsewhere had given a
political coloration to the Red Cross' work, while "under
the leadership of Herbert Hoover a joint committee of relief
organizations has been formed, which is openly using the funds
collected for anti-labor propaganda," the leaflet asserts.
In response to this ideological orientation of the American Red
Cross, the American Red Star League had been formed. "THE
AMERICAN RED STAR LEAGUE is organized as First Aid to the Working
Class in every country. Our first and most pressing duty is to
save the women and children of Soviet Russia!" the leaflet
declares. Financial contributions to the organization for its
work are solicited.

"30,000 Babies Starving!!
A leaflet of the American Red Star League," by Charles L.
Drake [circa Feb. 1921] This
leaflet of the new American Red Star League makes use of a cable
of the American Friends' Service Committee from Moscow highlighting
the shortage of milk, cod liver oil, and soap in Moscow which
had resulted in an infant mortality rate estimated at an astronomical
40%. "America's warehouses are full to bursting with good
things. Let us send them to Russian babies! In the name of Humanity,
ACT NOW!" the leaflet implores, noting that a $10 donation
"will save 10 Russian babies."

MARCH 1921

"Martens Files Libel Suit
Against the Washington Post." [event of March 2,
1921] Around the
first of March, 1921, claims were made in the Washington Post
against head of the Russian Soviet Government Bureau, Ludwig
Martens, charging that he he was a member of the American Communist
Party, had directed secret organizations aiming at the overthrow
of the American government, had associated with and incited criminal
anarchists, and that he was himself a German revolutionist. The
Post additionally editorialized in favor of delivering
Martens "over to the tender mercies of Noske, who knows
how to deal with Sparticides, Bolsheviki, and their ilk."
Martens responded through his lawyer, former Senator Hardwick,
who hired additional counsel in order to bring suit against the
Post. "Their contention is that the above and other
allegations by the Post are utterly false and are refuted by
the official record of the Senate hearings," this news account
from the Socialist press declares. The Post's editorial
offensive against Martens was seen as part of a final effort
by an increasingly desperate Department of Justice and the Lusk
Committee of New York to justify their policy of repression of
Martens and his Soviet Government Bureau in New York.

"L.A.K. Martens Not Deported;
Allowed to Go: Former Labor Secretary Now Gives New Explanation,"
by Laurence Todd [March 22, 1921] This article distributed by the Federated Press
notes that former Soviet representative in the United States
Ludwig Martens had not been deported, as was implied in the press,
but rather had been permitted to depart under his own volition
and at his own expense. The article quotes outgoing Secretary
of Labor William B. Wilson as saying in his defense, "The
decision against Martens did not end Martens' legal resources.
He could still have recourse to the courts on habeas corpus proceedings.
Under such circumstances it would have been months before Martens
could have been deported, if at all. Consequently the Secretary
of Labor permitted Martens to leave the United States without
executing the deportation warrant on condition that he would
leave not later than Jan. 22, 1921, and proceed to Russia at
his own expense instead of at the expense of the United States."

The URL of this page is http://www.marxisthistory.org/subject/usa/eam/rsgb.html